


Interlude

by calla_lilalma



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Character Study, Established Relationship, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Missing Scene, Relationship Study, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-10-01 19:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20375470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calla_lilalma/pseuds/calla_lilalma
Summary: Nozel's visit.





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> After being a manga reader since the beginning, i finally binged watched all of 96 episodes of the anime in less than a week for Nozel, the Vermillions and this ultimate OTP of mine and finally be ready to write something about them. I love them that much.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are more than welcome!  
Enjoy! :)

Nozel enters the room with unusual uncertainty. Each step, every breath echoes to the wide walls a hundredfold.

Outside the windows dusk has fallen over the sky, nightfall has well taken over the now looming silent royal castle. One of the rare hours when most have retired to their quarters or left and no one is crowding the room. No one except the person that matters the most and shouldn't have been there in the first place.

It's eerie, disturbing, seeing him so motionless. Approaching slowly, his eyes never leave his body, roaming the familiar planes with his gaze, stubbornly making himself acknowledge the stump where his right arm once was. His chest barely rises to breathe, the covers don't even crinkle.

Fuegoleon was never like this.

Since they were children, he was full of energy and passion. He never changed in showing his searing spirit and strength even in his calmest moments or as he grew up and matured into the man he is today. Always moving; to act, to make his voice and self known and respected.

Even when he sleeps, it's the same; tightens his grip around Nozel's waist, nuzzles in whichever part of him his unconscious mind finds first, just like his hands. After Nozel has managed to untangle their limbs begrudgingly, with fond exasperation blooming anew within him, Fuegoleon always searches for him by expanding his body and mana outwards to mindlessly search and pull him back in, steal the very last precious moment until their day officially starts.

Seeing him in this unnatural state makes Nozel's heart plummet in his chest but further plant his feet to the floor. Running away is simply unacceptable.

Right after the incident, he'd caught a glance of Fuegoleon's body when rushed to the healers, the blood running in crimson torrents, the lifeless stare and bleak, ashen skin and the memory refuses to leave him. Entering here meant facing the relief of seeing him out of the clutches of death and hurt so gravely all the same.

Tonight, he's finally here after standing so long on the other side of the door, gathering courage while everyone else, important and not, came and went to show their concern and respect.

Nozel moves tentatively at his bedside, like in similar, more pleasant memories around their plenty cases of injuries in their training and younger times as Magic Knights. When repeatedly pushed themselves to the bone. They had people, and shadows of them, each other and the world to catch up to; impatience was gnawing at them to rush, disregarding the limits of their bodies, passing out and waking up in the company of a bedside vigil in the face of the other.

The past was easy, wistful compared to now. Death never grazed them so closely to be presumed dead and had their heart stop. Never taking so damn long to recover and be back to each other.

And Nozel was _useless _during it all_-_ absent and watching in disbelief and anger exploding at his veins as the healers desperately tried to find and recover a heartbeat to the strongest heart still here in his life.

He leans in to place his ear to Fuegoleon's chest and closes his eyes, confirming it himself for purely his own ease.

It's unsurprisingly but so reassuringly warm; much like his siblings, the fire affinity has gifted Fuegoleon with naturally higher temperature and an advantageous ease to heat. Also perfectly comfortable in the coldest of wintery nights.

His bare, sun kissed skin continues to be blazing though as Nozel traces his remaining arm down to the bicep and forearm, interlacing their fingers, relishing at the sensation of the rough calloused skin, proof of his hard work. Such fierceness hides in here, capable of a myriad of expressions, from handling intricacies, precision and gentleness to bruising, punishing treatments to protect and serve as their owner pleases.

Now, that warmth is once again console him even when opening his eyes is proven difficult. Right below his ear, under the sturdy muscle a lively thumping; a familiar, beloved rhythm.

Moments pass and he makes no move to arise. He basks in their solitude, as bittersweet as it is, tension lessening the strain pulling his face to maintain his calm.

If he lets himself delve further into the past, they'd be home, either one, laying on each other in their own private, fleeting world, without cares and everything else floating out of sight, out of mind.

But arms don't loop around him, the deep voice doesn't murmur in his ear, hardened hands don't trace his skin with too much but not nearly enough care. Fuegoleon's determined eyes don't open in alert at the subtle change in Nozel's mana from the barely contained rage and longing; he neither actively confronts nor comforts him. Their silence now is unrecognizable to the ones filled understanding during many times in their lives.

It has made him unreasonable, he's aware; the worry is entertaining the foolish, unwanted thoughts and tear him apart inside. Brought up the fall of the other person that was never meant to leave him but ultimately did and his own helplessness to sit idle and witness until he was staring at her name engraved in pristine marble.

His grip of Fuegoleon's hand becomes tighter, buries his face further on his chest, as if hiding in it will erase this. Hears the calm thumping, feels his head moving along with each inhale and exhale. In a delirious moment, Nozel swears his hand is being held tightly back for a tantalizing fraction.

His fears are sent back to the dark and unwanted, as he grounds his instincts down to logical reality, his own ridiculousness fully reasoned within him as the moment of weakness is overcome. Wallowing further is a hindrance to his judgment, clouds it into remaining weak. And he fully knows how Fuegoleon hates that.

He'd also hate seeing Nozel so pessimistic. He can picture him perfectly gently scolding him of how little faith he has in him, his voice low and steady with no room for nonsense, his lips pulling into a thin line, titling Nozel's head up to carefully move his braid aside, search deep into each other's soul, or a more intimate touching of their foreheads. Challenge him to underestimate him with ever-present determined eyes.

_Never_, would be his immediate, wholeheartedly truthful answer. That's why Fuegoleon is his rival, best friend, lover and closest thing to soulmate he'd ever know. A resonance burns between them, undeniable and steady and perfect even if neither of them are.

And because of that, Nozel is afraid of losing it. Of being without him. Of ever regretting being vulnerable and giving into his desires and this unrelenting man without much resistance.

With a deep breath of fresh, cool air he straightens back, soothing the torrid yearning rending him apart. He reaches upwards, this time to Fuegoleon's handsome, serious face, calm like a peaceful lake without any furrow between his brows or pressure around his mouth.

With his free hand he traces the sharp cheekbone and angular, powerful jaw, leaning up to place a chaste kiss on Fuegoleon's lips. They are of course chapped and dry by the lack of care but Nozel lets it pass just this once.

"Don't keep me waiting any longer." he murmurs the demand steadily against his lips, the Silva cross falling close to his lips and gracing his cheekbone, then promptly pulls his hands away and stands to his feet in order to exit the room, cloudless and lighter than when he entered, paying no attention to the flash of vermillion skirting out of his sight. He needs the remaining hours to properly rest and be prepared for their attack on the Eye of the Midnight Sun's hideout in the morning.

Soon, Nozel will make their enemies pay for what they so foolishly dared. Make reality the opportunity he grasped so fast and desperately. And despite Mereoleona's insightful teasing and implications, her words and presence fire him up further, much like her brother. With her as a captain of the Royal Knights, amusing in it of itself by how she vehemently dodged any association with such a position since Nozel could remember, they'll be able to cut the snake's head once and for all.

He doesn't turn back; there is no need to, nothing less and nothing more to do. The next time Nozel sees him, Fuegoleon will no longer be confined in here. He'll be soaring triumphantly into the battlefield with all his sealed frustrated energy breaking out, ready to be channeled and magnificent. Return to them with a wild grin, lion fangs sharpened and bared for all to see and fear and Nozel's faith in him will remain intact.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: callalilalma
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
